Transition

Concentration of CO2 in the Atmosphere

July 21 Green Energy News

Opinion:

“Carbon price gone: Next target is wind and solar” The move by Australia to become the first country to repeal a carbon price is expected to accelerate a switch back to coal-fired generation from gas – already triggered by the soaring gas price. [RenewEconomy]

World:

Siemens has installed the third and fourth of five offshore transmission platforms scheduled for the North Sea. The four grid connections will have a total transmission capacity of more than 2.9 GW, with enough wind power to supply around three million households. [Your Renewable News]

Sainsbury’s has become the first ever retailer to power one of its own stores by its food waste. A store in Staffordshire sends all of its food waste to an anaerobic digestion plant to generate electricity. It’s the first time a UK retailer has come off the National Grid. [Fresh Business Thinking]

Global investment bank HSBC says the repeal of the carbon price last week leaves Australia’s resource-intensive economy “even more vulnerable” as the world moves in opposite direction. The impact extends to commodities beyond those that are energy-based. [RenewEconomy]

Suntech Power became a world power in solar energy only to default on $541 million in debt in February 2013. Commercially, the firm – now rebadged as Wuxi Suntech Power – is now rising from the ashes. [Sydney Morning Herald]

Eastern Petroleum Corp. has secured a permit from the Philippine DOE for its initial phase of its biomass power project, its top official said last week. The first phase consists of a 23.5-MW power unit worth close to $100 million. The second phase is similarly sized. [Business Mirror]

Yingli Solar has announced it will supply approximately 12,000 of its PV modules for use in a rooftop mounted distributed generation project in eastern China. The panels, with a capacity of over 3 MW, will be installed on rooftops of four warehouses. [Energy Matters]

Jean-Claude Juncker, who is to assume the presidency of the European Commission in November, has called for an ambitious target to improve energy savings, calling for cutting greenhouse gas emissions by 40% by 2030. [Wall Street Journal]

India’s finance minister has decided to double the tax on every metric ton of coal mined or imported in the country. The revenues from the tax will be dedicated to increasing renewable energy capacity in the country. [CleanTechnica]

US:

Residents of New Castle, Colorado may be able to zap some money off their electric bills if they approve a proposed new community solar park on a town-owned, five-acre parcel of property, according to town officials. [Glenwood Springs Post Independent]

Thanks to Rocky Mountain Power’s Blue Sky renewable energy program, the Jewish Community Center in Salt Lake City was able to install two solar arrays totaling over 22 kW. The project is part of a commitment to “repairing the world.” [Salt Lake Tribune]

Innovative Solar Systems, LLC is seeing a trend in the United States where large utility scale solar farms are adding jobs, adding tax base to states and helping the U.S. economy. The company has started working only on solar farms with capacities in excess of 20 MW. [PR Web]